Take a drive to the tiny town of Tieton where a vibrant cultural tradition comes to life with a rich display of color, music, food and dance. Experience the traditions and significance of D\u00eda de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and explore the quaint community of artists and makers. Find even more ways to experience cultural celebrations around the valley with a new festival and events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike Halloween\u2019s dark\nand spooky night of frights and mischief, D\u00eda de los Muertos celebrates the\nbeauty of life in an explosion of color, love and remembrance. It originated\nthousands of years ago in Central America and has roots in both indigenous and\nCatholic traditions. At the center of the celebration is the importance of\nhonoring and remembering the lives of loved ones who have passed, as opposed to\nmourning. Altars of remembrance, or ofrendas<\/em>,\nare central to the celebration, lovingly created to honor loved ones and\nwelcome their spirits back from eternal sleep to feast, drink and dance to\nmusic for just one night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The three-tier altars\nare filled with offerings that reflect the life of the loved one, as well as\ntraditional components representing the elements of water, fire (candles), wind\n(colorful paper banners) and earth (food, especially bread). You\u2019ll also bright\nmarigolds, beautifully made of paper, and colorfully decorated calacas<\/em> and calaveras<\/em> (skeletons and skulls). Sugar skulls are a common festive\npart of the celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, D\u00eda de los Muertos has become a global event with its festivities, costumes, music, food and dance. Here in the Valley, you can experience the rich traditions at the annual D\u00eda de los Muertos Community Celebration & Altar<\/a><\/strong> in Tieton. Each year, Tieton Arts & Humanities<\/strong> and Mighty Tieton<\/strong> host the celebration and create a large community altar they welcome everyone to contribute to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nall begins with an opening celebration on Sunday, October 26<\/strong>, from 12 to\n5 pm. Take the short drive to Tieton for live performances, artists, a stunning\ncultural gallery exhibit, music and dance performances. Enjoy arts and crafts\nactivities, sugar skull decorating and a mercado featuring an array of goods\nfrom artisans and delicious foods. The heart of the display is the large\nmemorial altar filled with all the traditional elements and community\ncontributions. Visitors can bring photos of loved ones, write messages, help\ndecorate and bring candies or breads to make the altar a community celebration.\nThe display also features exhibits about the sacred traditions, individual contemporary\nand traditional altars, sugar skull displays and a vibrant, traditional sandpainting\nby acclaimed Oaxacan artist Fulgencio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, the Lowrider\nCar Show<\/strong> also returns to the celebration on October 26! The lowrider show \u201cshowcases\nanother art form within the community and give our visitors another exciting\nexperience that highlights the Latine community and celebrate the culture,\u201d\naccording to Tieton Arts & Humanities.You can visit the<\/strong>\ngallery exhibit and altar on Fridays and Saturdays, from 12 to 5 pm, through\nNovember 9<\/strong>, or by appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tieton packs a lot into a few square blocks. While you\u2019re there for D\u00eda de los Muertos, be sure to check out the final day of Art of Harvest at Boxx Gallery<\/a> on October 26, <\/strong>an exhibit inspired by the fruits of the Yakima Valley\u2019s agricultural roots. Another exceptional exhibit follows at this beautifully curated gallery, beginning November 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Save time to savor cultural flavors at local dining stops around town. Fernando\u2019s<\/strong> is a local\u2019s favorite stop for traditional Mexican dishes and Don Mateo<\/strong> is known for delicious Salvadoran specialties including handmade papusas. Save your spot for seasonally inspired lunch or dinner at Nomad Kitchen & Mercantile<\/a><\/strong>. Check out their mercantile stocked with goods for outdoor adventurers and food lovers. Tour the vibrant tile mosaic installations all around town from Tieton Mosaic<\/a>, <\/strong>perfect for photo ops! Gather over handcrafted coffee drinks and bites at North Town Coffee House<\/a><\/strong> or raise a pint at one of the valley\u2019s newest craft breweries, Shorthead Brewing<\/a><\/strong>. That\u2019s not all! Take a look at more of the makers and top stops in Tieton<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year marks the return of another new event in Downtown Yakima. The Laka Laka Glowing Festival<\/a><\/strong> celebrates D\u00eda de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased)* on Saturday, November 1, 9 to 5 pm, at the Downtown Rotary Pavilion.\u00a0 This new festival embraces tradition in a magical way with light, color, candles, food, vendors, music and more. Enjoy a lively beer garden and get in character to participate in the beautiful catrina contest. It also serves as an educational experience centered around the rich traditions of D\u00eda de los Difuntos, fostering youth empowerment and cultural understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Downtown Association of Yakima<\/a><\/strong> also invites you and your family to the Rotary Pavilion during the day on October 31 to decorate the pavilion with chalk art<\/strong>. This family-friendly event will not be Halloween focused. Rather, it will encourage, teach and provide inspiration drawn from D\u00eda de los Difuntos. Watch the association\u2019s website and social channels for details about the Laka Laka Festival and chalk art event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The D\u00eda de los Muertos celebrations<\/strong> also return to the Valley Mall<\/a><\/strong> this year, in partnership with Yakima-Morelia Sister City Association<\/a>. <\/strong>Visit the mall from October 24 to November 2 to tour a collection of vibrant ofrendas (altars) created by individuals and groups form around the valley. Mark your calendar for cultural dance performances, arts and crafts, clay painting and the traditional car show. The Yakima-Morelia Sister City Association is also hosting a tour of altars<\/strong> at downtown businesses, check them all out and collect stamps as you go. Keep an eye on the mall\u2019s website<\/a> and social channels, as well as the Yakima-Morelia Sister City Association website for details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n *In Spain, Ecuador and other regions of the world, D<\/em>\u00eda\nde los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased) is traditionally a more intimate\ncommemoration than that associated with <\/em>D<\/em>\u00ed<\/em>a de los Muertos festivities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out all the other things to do in the Yakima Valley when you visit.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Events & Festivities Around the Valley Take a drive to the tiny town of Tieton where a vibrant cultural tradition comes to life with a rich display of color, music, food and dance. Experience the traditions and significance of D\u00eda de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and explore the quaint community of artists… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-fun","category-history-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27058,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605\/revisions\/27058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visityakima.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nCultural Celebrations & Traditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nExplore the Town of Tieton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFestivities of Light, Color & Remembrance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n